Statement by Ambassador Wang Min at the Security Council Open Debate on Security Council Working Methods

2013/10/29

Mr. President,

China thanks Azerbaijan for convening today’s meeting. This is the sixth time that the Security Council has held an open debate on its working methods. This fully demonstrates the importance that the Security Council attaches to improving its working methods.

The Charter of the United Nations entrusts the Security Council with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. As the core of the United Nations collective security machinery, the Security Council has major responsibilities in responding to threats and challenges of all kinds to international security. Following the Cold War, the Security Council has conducted preventive diplomacy efforts, resolved disputes through mediation and good offices, and made important efforts and obtained positive results in peacekeeping, post-conflict rebuilding and peace building.

In recent years, the broader United Nations membership has been asking the Security Council to improve its working methods and transparency so as to better fulfill the responsibility entrusted to it by the Charter of the United Nations. China fully understands that concern and pays sincere attention to the broader membership. China has been making sincere efforts, with other members of the Council, to push for positive results in improving the Council’s working methods. There has been an increase in the number of open meetings held every year. The President of the Council holds monthly briefings to non-members on the progress of the Council’s work, and this has now become Council practice. The Council also attaches importance to informal interactive dialogues and Arria Formula meetings, inter alia. In that way, the Council can strengthen its exchanges and interaction with Member States, regional organizations and civil society.

This year, the Security Council has adopted presidential statements on improving the efficiency of the open meetings of the Security Council, maintaining regular communications with the Peace building Commission and its country-specific configurations, and increasing its exchanges with regional organizations and troop-contributing countries.

The Charter of the United Nations provides that the Security Council formulate its own rules of procedure. China earnestly supports the full implementation of the 2010 note by the President of the Council on improving the Council’s working methods, which sums up experiences and explores specific measures and recommendations for improving the working methods of the Council, increasing its transparency and improving its authority and efficiency so as to facilitate the Council playing a greater role in maintaining international peace and security. I would like to make the following points.

First, in order to better fulfill its responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, the Council should focus its resources and efforts on dealing with major and pressing issues that are significant for international peace and security. In recent years, the number of thematic debates in the Council has been on the increase. Some of these debates have even exceeded the mandate of the Council and eroded the scope of work of other United Nations bodies. The Security Council and other United Nations bodies have their respective functions and they should use their comparative advantages and expertise and avoid duplication of efforts.

Secondly, broad consensus should be reached through full negotiations and patient consultations during the Council’s decision-making process. It should be ensured that all members of the Council have sufficient time to study the relevant draft resolutions or draft presidential statements. The Council should avoid forcibly pushing for drafts on which there are major differences of opinion in order to preserve the unity of the Council.

Thirdly, the Security Council should heed the opinions of the Member States, especially the ideas of the countries involved. China supports the strengthening of the Council’s coordination and cooperation with regional organizations, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, so as to fully utilize the comparative advantages of regional organizations in dealing with issues in which they have advantages.

Fourthly, the Security Council should endeavour to strengthen its communication and interaction with troop-contributing countries. We support the Security Council in fully utilizing the working groups on peacekeeping and troop-contributing countries and other mechanisms to strengthen communication and exchanges and take into account the ideas of troop-contributing countries. The concerns of troop-contributing countries should also be heeded in peacekeeping deployments and mandate adjustments. Fifthly, the Security Council should, through an increase in its open debates, allow Member States to better understand the work of the Security Council. We can also use the Arria Formula and other types of meetings to listen to the ideas of other countries so as to strengthen the Council’s interaction and dialogue with States that are not members of the Council.